It couldn’t have started worse, and it couldn’t have finished better for Tennessee.

After Vandy returned the opening kickoff and raced out to a 2-touchdown lead in the first quarter on the heels of another Dylan Sampson fumble, the Vols roared back.

Tennessee shook off that awful start and dominated the rest of the game for a pivotal 36-23 victory.

One would think the No. 8 Vols all but clinched a Playoff berth with Saturday’s showing, even though they’ll be idle during next week’s SEC Championship.

Here are 3 takeaways from Saturday in Nashville:

1. Nico Iamaleava stepped up and delivered arguably the most impressive performance of his young career

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

That’s what the Tennessee redshirt freshman was after the Vols couldn’t do anything right early on. Mind you, that came after Bru McCoy suffered an injury in warm-ups and was unavailable. Iamaleava instead connected with Dont’e Thornton for 28 and 86-yard scores to overcome that 2-touchdown deficit. Thornton also left Saturday’s game with an injury and didn’t return, which also happened to Squirrel White with 2:25 to play.

It didn’t matter. Iamaleava finished with 4 touchdown passes (his most vs. SEC competition) and did the heavy lifting for the Vols offense. He found Miles Kitselman and true freshman Mike Matthews in what was a 36-3 run for the visiting Vols.

Go figure that Dylan Sampson didn’t score a touchdown for the first time all season. Sampson was still dominant with 178 yards on 25 carries, though he did limp off the field on the same play that White got hurt. Fortunately for the Vols, there should be 3 weeks to get healthy before the Playoff.

Also fortunately for the Vols, Iamaleava might just be rounding into form at the perfect time.

2. Diego Pavia didn’t look healthy or effective against that Tennessee defense

It was looking like it was going to be one of those days for Pavia and the Dores … until it wasn’t. Pavia looked good early, but couldn’t sustain Vandy’s 14-0 start, which was aided by Junior Sherrill’s opening kickoff returned for a touchdown and the Sampson fumble.

Vandy couldn’t break through against the loaded Tennessee defense. It was held to 212 total yards with just 104 of them coming on 8 completions in the passing game. Pavia couldn’t shake the Vols’ defensive line, which led the way with 3 sacks of Pavia.

It was a disappointing ending for Vandy, who lost 3 in a row to end the season after it earned its earliest bowl berth in program history. For what it’s worth, Pavia participated in Senior Day festivities. His lawsuit against the NCAA to earn another year of eligibility is still pending, so it remains to be seen if that was his last regular season game of his career.

3. Tennessee can now sit back and root for chaos

Wait, didn’t I already say that the Vols were in? Yeah, but let’s remember what’s still on the line.

Tennessee wants that first-round home game. Seeds No. 5-8 will get that. In theory, Tennessee is in good shape. But remember, the 4 highest-ranked conference champs get first-round byes. That means Boise State, who was at No. 11, can leapfrog the Vols if they win the Mountain West (that seems more likely than the Big 12 champ moving past Boise State).

In other words, Tennessee is by no means a lock to earn a first-round bye even if chalk plays out. But that’s a good problem to have for the Vols.

Saturday’s comeback all but guaranteed that the Vols will be in the first 12-team Playoff. That’s about all they could’ve asked for entering 2024.